Process of making fertilizers from garbage



No. (9,056. Patented Feb.- 7, I899. B. TERNE.

PROCESS OF MAKING FERTILIZERS FROM GARBAGE.

(Application filed. Kay 24, 1898.)

(No Model.)

WITNESSES: INVE/VTOR "m: mums mus cu. muro-u'ma, wnsmnc'ron n I.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BRUNO TERNE, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

PROCESS OF MAKING FERTILIZERS' FROM GARBAGE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 619,056, dated February7, 1899.

Application filed May 24, 1898. Serial No. 681,635. (No specimens.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, BRUNO TERNE, a citizen of the United States,residing in the city of Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia, inthe State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Processes of Treating Garbage, of which the following ina specification.

, This invention relates to an improved process of treating garbage soas to utilize the same for the production of ammonia and fertilizers;and the invention consists in aprocess of treating garbage by subjectingthe pressed garbage from which the grease has been extracted to drydistillation for obtainin g the ammonia contained therein and phosphatedcharcoal as the residue.

The invention consists, further, in mixing the phosphated charcoal thusobtained with the concentrated tank liquors obtained by boiling thegarbage and using the mixture after drying as a fertilizer.

An apparatus which can be used to carry out my process is shown inelevation in the accompanying drawing.

Referring to the drawing, A A indicate the digesters, into which thegarbage is deposited through spouts a a.

B is a receiver for the digested garbage from the digesters A A and fromwhich the same is deposited in forms 0, which are placed on a truck D,so that the garbage may be conducted to the press (not shown) forexpressing the liquid from the solid matter.

The compressed solid matter is taken up by the endless bucket elevator Eand dep0sited on a slatted distributer-apron F, being conducted theretoby guides e, and from the apron F it is dropped into a storage-bin G,from whence it is conducted to the retorts of kiln or furnace H.

I is a hydraulic main connected with the retorts, t j pipes leading toand connecting scrubbers or condensers J J, andj a gas-pipe leading tothe kiln or furnace H.

7t k are pipes leading to the receivingtank N, from which a pipe mleads.

2" is a pipe leading from the hydraulic main.

In treating garbage heretofore it was either subjected to boiling underhigh steam-pressure in closed tanks or the garbage was treated withnaphtha for the purpose of extracting the grease contained therein. Thegarbage after being thus treated is discharged from the digesters intoclosed receivers and from them transferred by means of conveyers topresses, by which the liquid matter is separated from the solid matter.The liquid matter obtained from the pressed garbage is run intosettling-tanks and separated in the same according to specific gravity.The grease is skimmed off from the surface of the tank liquors whichwere heretofore permitted to run ofi as Waste. The solid matter istreated in suitable driers, so that the moisture retained therein isreduced from fortyper cent.

to about ten per cent. The dried material is then screened and separatedfrom any coarse foreign matter in the same.

The process hereinbefore described is well known.

The object of my improved process is to utilize the pressed and driedgarbage in a more thorough manner for the manufacture of ammonia andfertilizers, and for this purpose consists, first, in a process oftreating the garbage by subjecting the pressed and dried solid matter todestructive distillation, separating the condensible vapors ofdistillation by condensation from the non-condensible gases, and thenseparating the ammonia from the condensed vapors.

The invention consists, further, in mixing the phosphated charcoalobtained as the residue from the dry distillation with the concentratedtank liquors obtained from the garbage by pressure and using it as afertilizer.

In practically carrying out my improved process the pressed garbageinstead of being transmitted to the driers is transferred directly fromthe presses by suitable conveyers to the retorts or ovens at H. Itdepends on local circumstances Whether a system of upright retorts or asystem of ovens is most preferable. When large quantities of garbagehave to be handled, the well-known coke-ovens can be used withadvantage. It is obvious, however, that any approved retort or oven maybe used in the further treatment of the garbage. The pressed garbage,

which still contains from about thirty-five to forty per cent. ofmoisture, is delivered to the retorts or ovens with a somewhat-reducedpercentage of moisture by means of conveyers E F, which act in thenature of partial driers on the garbage. The charge of pressed garbage,which may be from four to five tons in weight, is then subjected in theovens to a temperature of about 900 centigrade. The gases which aregenerated from the material are conducted through hydraulic main 1 to asuitable system of condensers J J. The condensed matter which containsthe ammonia is conducted through pipes k k k to the receiving-tank L andfrom there to asuitable still (not shown) for regaining the same inpurer form, either as ammoniacal liquor or in the form of ammonia salts.The non-condensible gases, of which from six to seven thousand cubicfeetare obtained per ton of pressed garbage, are conducted through pipe j tothe furnaces of theretorts or ovens and utilized as fuel. After thesystem of retorts or ovens has been charged and fired a sufficientquantity of gas is generated for keeping the furnaces going, while thesurplus heat from the ovens can be utilized for making the steamnecessary for the ammonia plant by locating the boilers between theovens and the smoke-stack. After all the gases have been driven out fromthe garbage by the heat the residue in the ovens is discharged in theform of a charcoal-like substance, being in quantity about thirty percent. of the original charge and containing by analysis from ten totwelve per cent. of phosphoric acid and twenty-five per cent. ofcharcoal. This phosphated charcoal is then mixed with the tank liquors,which are concentrated to a specific gravity of from to Baum.

The proportion .of tank liquor to the phosphated charcoal has to be suchthat a marketable fertilizer is obtained. This mixture is Having thusdescribed my invention, what I claim is 1. The process herein describedof treating garbage, which consists of subjecting the pressed and driedsolid matter obtained from the same to destructive distillation, thenmixing the phosphated charcoal obtained as the residue of said drydistillation with the concentrated tank liquors, expressed from thegarbage, and then drying this mixture, substantially as set forth.

2. As a new product, a fertilizer consisting of a mixture of phosphatedcharcoal obtained by dry distillation of the pressed garbage and theconcentrated tank liquor, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed myname in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

BRUNO TE RNE.

Witnesses:

PAUL GroEPEL,v GEO. W. JAEKEL.

